


shift each other's body to accept the bullet

by arcanamagnus



Category: Transformers: Victory
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Complicated Relationships, Cuddling & Snuggling, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:56:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24928042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcanamagnus/pseuds/arcanamagnus
Summary: Hellbat's guilt over Deathcobra's death reaches a boiling point as Leozack turns to him for comfort.
Relationships: Hellbat/Leozack
Kudos: 4





	shift each other's body to accept the bullet

**Author's Note:**

> soooo just a little thing to (sort of) bridge the gap between hellbat killing deathcobra by accident and him becoming less treacherous (though no less mischievous) by the final stretch of victory
> 
> hope u enjoy!

The night after Liokaiser's first merge since his experimental stages was filled with a strange mix of hope for the future and uncharacteristic somberness courtesy of the loss of a potential teammate. Hellbat hadn't known Deathcobra — he didn't even know if anyone other than  _ Leozack  _ had actually known him —, but the horrible, horrible guilt of killing a fellow Decepticon by accident over something so  _ pathetic _ like securing his place as a permanent thorn on his ex-lover's side held him in abject terror and anxiety for the possible consequences of being found out.

It was a miracle that they didn't find him out in the merge, with Leozack's grief and anger hanging so heavily that the combiner's only thoughts were in the vein of "ATTACK, KILL". Liokaiser had very much enjoyed hurting Star Saber over this misattributed crime, and Hellbat felt no guilt at savouring this enjoyment, though it shamed him that he felt unbridled elation and smirking pride at being this behemoth's left arm rather than poor, poor Deathcobra.

The fear and guilt hit him at full force when, in the middle of the night, he received a summons from his glorious Lieutenant Commander to meet him in his quarters. He knew  _ exactly _ what this usually meant.

Hellbat wandered in silence to Leozack's door, brimming with anxiety, and knocked lightly. The delay between that and the door sliding open was probably a sign of his captain rethinking this whole mess — it always was —, and Hellbat did not take it personally.

Leozack didn't get up to greet him, but his still, bundled frame on the foam bed was easy enough to find, small as these temporary quarters were. He was lying facing away from the door and cuddling Lionbreast like a doll, and Hellbat took the liberty to sit beside him on the edge of the bed and place a careful hand on his back kibble.

"Hey."

Leozack hummed, almost a growl of displeasure, and ordered Lionbreast to rest at his foot, turning to fix his misty gaze on Hellbat.

"Can't sleep?" Hellbat asked, stupidly enough —  _ of course _ Leozack couldn't sleep, why else would he call Hellbat?

Leozack didn't seem to take (much) offense though, nodding with a quiet huff.

"Right. Do you want me to put you down or…" he trailed off — it didn't seem like talking was going to be an option here, even if Hellbat did all of it, as usual.

"Not yet, just..." his Leader finally graced him with his voice, even if it was staticky and choked off, and held his blanket up, offering Hellbat a place beside him.

Hellbat would be stupid not to accept.

He laid down beside his Leader and let him curl himself against him, head and hand resting on Kōmoribreast as he nuzzled the Breast Animal's plating.

Leozack's body was cold like grief and despair and Hellbat could only rear in his panic as the static feedback from Leozack’s vocaliser began. He softly stroked Leozack's fuselage as he fought with the horrible, horrible self-hatred at his own actions. As much as he liked to taunt his ex, Hellbat had never enjoyed truly hurting Leozack, even if he was unaware this was all Hellbat's fault.

Despite all his posturing and bravado, Leozack had always had strong emotions —  _ very _ strong emotions —, and, because of the soft, nice and  _ stable _ relationship they’d held when they were younger and untroubled, it often fell to Hellbat to deal with them. He didn’t mind, not really; that Leozack still trusted him enough to allow him comforting touch, to allow him to  _ put him to sleep _ , was something that at the same time fuelled his overgrown ego and need for power and tugged at the remainders of loving feeling in his spark. Right now though? Hellbat only felt the overwhelming weight of his actions. He knew Leozack still loved him deep down — just like he still loved far too many people who’d let him down —, couldn’t he have counted on that as his chance to prevail over Deathcobra rather than shooting him through the spark?

He felt claws digging into his waist.

“Stop thinking.” Leozack mumbled against his chest, tightening the hold he had on their tangled legs. “Just put me down if you’re going to  _ think _ the whole time.”

Frazzled, Hellbat shushed him in what he hoped was a soothing way and patted his cheekguards softly.

“Shhh, shh, I’m sorry.”

“Like the Pit you are.”

The words hurt more than they had the right to, unknowing and playful as they were, but Hellbat simply held Leozack closer to his chest and snapped open his mask to press a soft little kiss on the top of his helm. The fond huff he got as a response thrilled his spark more than it had the right to.

He definitely wasn’t prepared for Leozack to slide up so they were face to face — sleepy,  _ cynical _ optics trained on him, all four of them — and pull him in for a short kiss on the lips. It was brief and he’d barely even felt it, but it left him aching for more. He chose not to act on it, however — taking advantage of each other in fragilised emotional states had been what ended  _ them _ , after all —, and Leozack soon came to rest against his chest again like nothing had happened. It was best this way.

“You can put me down now,” Leozack said, almost without sound, “Don’t leave.”

Hellbat wouldn’t dream of it.

He began to emit his infrasonic waves, still petting Leozack’s kibble, and soon his Leader was out like a light, perfectly safe and warm in Hellbat’s arms.

* * *

At some point in the night, sleep overtook moping about Deathcobra’s murder and his and Leozack’s broken relationship. Hellbat awoke more comfortable than he’d been in vorns and snuggled further against the body in his arms without thinking much of it.

It turned out to be the final straw in awaking Leozack. He opened his optics sluggishly to find a flustered Leozack staring very critically at him, and slowly released his limbs from around his Leader’s body.

Leozack was up and standing almost in a flash, stretching the kinks out of his wires and literally shaking the sleep off — Hellbat almost found it funny to watch — before turning back to Hellbat, a conflicted expression on his face.

“We’re not talking about this,” he stated, plain and simple.

Hellbat just nodded, probably as flustered as Leozack himself, though for other reasons. He spared Lionbreast a little petting before getting up himself, and did not meet Leozack’s optics, hoping it could pass for simple embarrassment at their indiscretion.

“You’re dismissed,” Leozack told him, and after a pause, “Thank you.”

It hurt Hellbat not to respond meaningfully to it, but he didn’t really know how, so he just left with an acknowledging nod and a limp-wristed wave.

Once outside, he let guilt overtake him fully, coolant leaking off his squeezed shut optics as he slid down against the wall. What had he  _ done? _ He’d killed one of his own and then let a grieving whatever-Leozack-was-to-him cuddle him for comfort like nothing had happened and it felt just  _ so wrong. _ It  _ was _ wrong, and Hellbat wasn’t sure how to make it better.

He wasn’t admitting to his crime, that was out of the question, and neither was he allowing himself to rekindle a closer relationship to Leozack, not again, but maybe he could… Maybe he could just reconsider his future actions, gauge for risk and avoid hurting people he didn’t want to hurt. Yes, that could work.

Hellbat wiped the tears off his face with the back of his hand and got back to his feet with purpose. He was going to earn his keep from now on, even if in his own way. He wasn’t going to suddenly turn into a perfect teammate, no, that’d be out of character for him, but he could… play a little nicer, just a little.

He left for the communications room ready to tell Emperor Deathsaurus of their great success as Liokaiser, with many kind words to spare.

**Author's Note:**

> also just a quick note but, while this does use the "hellbat helps leozack sleep when he has Emotions-induced insomnia" plot point from my other ongoing fic ["you and i were born for better things"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20571257), they are not really in continuity with each other, even if i used the same song to title this and hellbat's spotlight chapter on that (it's "love and war (11/11/46)" by rilo kiley btw) 
> 
> either way thanks for reading <3


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